Benidorm appeals ruling of €283m fine

Benidorm Town Council has filed an appeal to the Supreme Court against the ruling issued on May 23 by the First Section of the Contentious-Administrative Chamber of the High Court of Justice of the Valencian Community (TSJCV).

The ruling stated that the Town Council must pay 283 million euros, plus corresponding legal interest, to landowners in Sector APR-7 of the Serra Gelada Natural Park. Specifically, the order instructed that compensation be paid to both Murcia Puchades Expansion SL and Urban Villajoyosa 2000 SL for the urban use of their property.

€283m Benidorm fine previously reduced to less than €700,000

Prior to this, the land owners in the heart of the Sierra Gelada Natural Park had accused the Council of failing to comply with an urban planning agreement that both parties signed in 2003, 2010 and 2013.  However, an initial ruling by the Administrative Court of Alicante in February 2022 declared the Agreement null and void and reduced the compensation payment to less than €700,000.

Unhappy with this decision, the owners appealed to the TSJCV, which ruled in their favour, and raised the compensation once more.

Now, Benidorm Town Council has decided to appeal this subsequent ruling, with the first step being to gain clarification on the sentence issued by the TSJCV.

It is their belief that prior to the sentence being issued, ‘all the judicial pronouncements had been favourable to the Benidorm Town Council’, with the Legal Advisory Council of the same opinion.

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